On Wednesday, August 31, 1983, Officer Kenneth “Ken” Wrede #203 was working as a patrol officer for the West Covina Police Department. At approximately 1219 hours, Officer Wrede was contacted by a citizen who reported a man, possibly under the influence of drugs, acting bizarre in the street. Officer Wrede responded to the area of Lark Ellen Avenue and Francisquito Avenue and began searching for the man. Officer Wrede located the suspect at Francisquito Avenue and Glenview Road. Officer Wrede made contact with the suspect and radioed that the suspect appeared to be under the influence of drugs. The suspect refused orders by Officer Wrede and a struggle ensued. During the continued struggle, the suspect was able to rip the shotgun and shotgun rack from Officer Wrede’s patrol unit. The suspect fired the shotgun over the roof of the unit, fatally wounding Officer Wrede. Responding officers located and arrested the suspect near the scene. It was later determined that the suspect was high on PCP. The suspect was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.

Officer Wrede was 26 years old. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Covina Hills. The City of West Covina named “Wrede Way” after Officer Wrede in 1985. In 2007, the portion of the Interstate 10 freeway from Grand Avenue to Vincent Avenue was named the “West Covina Police Officer Kenneth Scott Wrede Memorial Highway” in honor of Officer Ken Wrede’s service and sacrifice to the City of West Covina.

Friends and family paid respects at funerals in Bakersfield August 19 and 20 to two Kern County men killed in a plane crash.

Long-time sheriff’s reservist Ray Mallory was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery as pilots from the sheriff’s aerosquadron flew overhead in tribute.

Mallory had been a member of the Kern County Search and Rescue Team since 1955. He was born in Long Beach in 1938 and was a longtime Kern County resident.

Mallory was a legend in the field of Search and Rescue within Kern County. He has not only been captain of the unit for over 20 years, but he has been responsible for training most of the Search and Rescue members and units involved in rescues on the river. Ray was also a reserve deputy for over 20-years and has been a part-time deputy with Kernville substation for the last several years.

He was survived by his wife, Gloria, of Bakersfield; daughter Frances of Onyx; his mother, Frances Mallory of Kernville; and a brother, Bud Mallory of Onyx.

More than 600 people, including many local law enforcement officers, attended funeral services for Lansing L. “Lanny” Warren, a member of the Kern County Sheriff’s Aerosquadron, at Hillcrest Mortuary Chapel. Sheriff Larry Kleier and Harold Musick officiated. The Kern County Sheriff’s Honor Guard served as casketbearers.

Warren was born in Bakersfield and was a member of the Kern County Sheriff’s Reserve; Search and Rescue, the Elks in Wofford Heights and the Moose Lodge in Lake Isabella. He was all that was needed. Lanny was the ultimate search and rescue member. He know the Kernville area like the back of his hand. He had worked areas where the victims would be holed up. He went the extra distance to do the job right.

He was survived by his wife, Barbara, of Wofford Heights; daughter Shawn of Bakersfield; his mother, Edna Warren of Bakersfield; and a stepson, Matthew Luke of Wofford Heights.

Mallory and Warren were helping search for a lost pilot when their single-engine plane crashed in hilly terrain north of Kernville in Tulare County.

A third man, John VanRenssealaer of Wofford Heights, suffered head and chest injuries in the crash.

Friends and family paid respects at funerals in Bakersfield August 19 and 20 to two Kern County men killed in a plane crash.

Long-time sheriff’s reservist Ray Mallory was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery as pilots from the sheriff’s aerosquadron flew overhead in tribute.

Mallory had been a member of the Kern County Search and Rescue Team since 1955. He was born in Long Beach in 1938 and was a longtime Kern County resident.

Mallory was a legend in the field of Search and Rescue within Kern County. He has not only been captain of the unit for over 20 years, but he has been responsible for training most of the Search and Rescue members and units involved in rescues on the river. Ray was also a reserve deputy for over 20-years and has been a part-time deputy with Kernville substation for the last several years.

He was survived by his wife, Gloria, of Bakersfield; daughter Frances of Onyx; his mother, Frances Mallory of Kernville; and a brother, Bud Mallory of Onyx.

More than 600 people, including many local law enforcement officers, attended funeral services for Lansing L. “Lanny” Warren, a member of the Kern County Sheriff’s Aerosquadron, at Hillcrest Mortuary Chapel. Sheriff Larry Kleier and Harold Musick officiated. The Kern County Sheriff’s Honor Guard served as casketbearers.

Warren was born in Bakersfield and was a member of the Kern County Sheriff’s Reserve; Search and Rescue, the Elks in Wofford Heights and the Moose Lodge in Lake Isabella. He was all that was needed. Lanny was the ultimate search and rescue member. He know the Kernville area like the back of his hand. He had worked areas where the victims would be holed up. He went the extra distance to do the job right.

He was survived by his wife, Barbara, of Wofford Heights; daughter Shawn of Bakersfield; his mother, Edna Warren of Bakersfield; and a stepson, Matthew Luke of Wofford Heights.

Mallory and Warren were helping search for a lost pilot when their single-engine plane crashed in hilly terrain north of Kernville in Tulare County.

A third man, John VanRenssealaer of Wofford Heights, suffered head and chest injuries in the crash.

Motorcycle officer William Sikola, 27, affectionately dubbed “Pepsi Cola” by his friends, was officially off duty when he answered a call for assistance that led to his death.

Married and the father of three children, Sikola was a four year veteran of the Bakersfield Police Department. He had been a motorcycle officer for about three months. Police reports said the officer was headed home in uniform on his police motorcycle just after midnight when he heard a radio call asking for assistance in chasing a stolen car.

He responded to the call and quickly sped down northbound Highway 99 trying to head off the fleeing car. He was just south of the 24th street off-ramp when his motorcycle developed what police describe a “A high-speed wobble.” Sikola lost control of his bike and crashed into the center divider. He died of massive head and chest injuries shortly after arriving at the hospital.

A sheriff’s deputy was fatally injured and another was hurt when their patrol car, traveling at high speed to a home burglary in progress, went out of control and slammed into a tree on June 16.

James P. Clark, 29, of Los Angeles – a seven-year veteran of the force – died at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital about 2:00 a.m. His partner, James F. Marr, 24, also of Los Angeles, suffered a dislocated shoulder. The accident occurred shortly before midnight in the Windsor Hills Area as the deputies rushed to a home where a woman reported hearing someone trying to enter the house.

As the patrol car raced down Mullen Avenue, officers said, it veered out of control on a curve and hit a large tree.

Clark, who was driving, is survived by his wife, Patricia, who is expecting their second child in January. The couple have a 3-year-old daughter De Anna.

Department officials said Clark had a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Los Angeles.

His first assignment in the law enforcement field was in May 1976 with the Culver City Police Department as a Community Service Officer.

On July 29, 1977, he joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. As a member of the department, he served in several capacities including Custody Division and Special Investigation Bureau. In April of 1981, James transferred to the Patrol Division West Lennox Station.

Funeral services were held at the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church with interment at Inglewood Memorial Park.

Officer Paul Verna, 35, a Medal of Valor winner gunned down during a routine traffic stop, was laid to rest in a service attended by more than 3,500 fellow officers.

An additional 2,000 civilians attended the June 8 burial of the murdered motorcycle officer at Oakwood Memorial Park, just a few miles from the neighborhood where Verna was raised and the corner where he was killed.

About 300 police motorcycles and 1,500 black-and-white patrol cards comprised a motorcade viewed by hundreds of citizens who lined the route.

“Paul was a street policeman,” Police Chaplain Jerry Powell said in his eulogy. “He loved the streets, he loved the work, and that is where he wanted to be.

“Paul was rich in love and humanity . . . a caring family person.”

Powell also recalled the incident in December 1981 when Verna crawled into a burning home in an attempt to save two mentally retarded children, an act of heroism that won him the department’s Medal of Valor.

“Paul, at that time, didn’t see himself as a hero,” Powell said. “He saw his job, and he just did it. He felt uncomfortable receiving the medal of Valor . . .he didn’t like the publicity.”

Officers from 51 different agencies from California, Arizona, Nevada and even Mexico accompanied Verna’s casket on the slow trek to the cemetery where they were joined by Mayor Tom Bradley, Sheriff Sherman Block and several members of the City Council. Police Chief Daryl Gates, in Europe on business, was represented by Assistant Chief Barry Wade.

Verna’s wife, Sandra, 33, sat with the couple’s two sons, Bryce, 9, and Ryan, 4, and the officer’s parents and sister, occasionally giving her children comforting hugs.

The two boys were both dressed in their Little League baseball uniforms, honoring their father’s love of sports. The older boy cradled the slain officer’s helmet while the younger held the flag that had draped his coffin.

Following the eulogy, a police bagpiper played “Amazing Grace.” Three shots were fired into the air and a bugler closed the ceremony with “Taps.”

Verna, whose record of service also included the city Fire Department and the Air Force, was the 150th officer killed in the line of duty in the nation’s third largest city.

His accused killer, Kenneth Gay, pleaded innocent to charges, including murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice, that could bring a death penalty. Gay’s wife and three other suspects also pleaded innocent to charges in the case, some involving a string of robberies.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Larrell Smith was assigned to the Special Enforcement Bureau (Special Weapons And Tactics Team) at the time of his murder. Sergeant Smith and four fellow SEB deputies tried to serve a search warrant for illegal narcotics with no response from the occupants at the location. Entry was being made through a front window when a shot rang out, felling Sergeant Smith. Deputies returned fire, killing the suspect. Miraculously, the suspect’s four children who were in the residence were not injured. Sergeant Smith was treated at the scene by paramedics and then rushed to the hospital. He was taken off life support and died two days later.

Memorial services for Deputy Lawrence M. Lavieri were held March 24 at the First Presbyterian Church in San Pedro.

Lavieri, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was shot to death and a second deputy was seriously wounded by a man later disarmed by an outraged mob who came to the officers’ aid.

Deputy Lawrence “Mike” Lavieri, 38, died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center March 19. A 16-year department veteran, he had been shot in the head.

Authorities booked Lionel Henry of Los Angeles, 35, for investigation of murder and attempted murder following the attack at a Carson gasoline station and a nearby residence.

Mason Kenny, a department spokesman, said Lavieri arrived about 10:30 a.m. to investigate a report of a suspicious person loitering at a gas station in the Los Angeles suburb.

The officers allegedly found Henry inside an automobile that had been reported stolen in San Diego. An argument ensued when he refused to step out.

A single shot was fired, and one deputy fell to the ground, Kenny said.

The man fled on foot with the second deputy in pursuit, then entered a residence about a block away from the gas station.

Following an exchange of gunfire inside the residence, during which the second deputy was wounded, the “suspect came out holding a gun,” Kenny said, and a crowd outside the house began yelling, “Drop the gun. Drop the gun.”

The suspect dropped the weapon and the crowd “jumped the suspect,” restraining him until backup units arrived, Kenny said.

Alameda policeman Robert J. Davey Jr., the first officer slain in that city’s history, was buried after a full-dress funeral attended by more than 500 fellow officers.

As an overflow crowd listened inside St. Joseph Basilica Catholic Church and about 200 more heard the words through a loudspeaker outside, a grief-stricken officer eulogized Davey, 35, as a gentle, kind father of four children.

“His wife, Sue, will remember that his final words to her ‘I love you’ when he called to tell her he would be late on that fateful night,” Alameda Police Sergeant Charles Mannix said, his voice breaking occasionally as he praised his friend.

Mannix said that Davey, a 10-year veteran of the 92-member force who worked in its juvenile division, agreed to go along on a drug raid as he got off his usual shift. Davey was shot by a suspect who tried to flee the scene.

“He didn’t have to be there,” Mannix said. “He wanted to be there because he was a cop.” One of Davey’s aims was to help “preserve order in a disordered world.”

Hundreds of officers from more than two dozen agencies – most from the Bay Area, but some from as far away as Sacramento and Monterey – attended the service. In their dress blues, they stood at attention in front of several Victorian homes across the street from the white-walled stucco church.

When the funeral limousine drove up slowly to the church, the officers saluted with white-gloved hands. The service began shortly after Davey’s wife, visibly crumbled with emotion, stepped from the limousine and leaned heavily on the arms of friends who helped her up the steps on the church.

Behind her came her four children – 3-year-old Joseph, 5-year-old Kelli, 8-year-old Robert and 10-year-old Krista – with the smallest ones being carried by other family members.

Davey grew up in Torrance and worked as a Navy mechanic before joining the police. He had been attending Golden Gate University to obtain a bachelor’s degree at the time of his death.

Monsignor Alvin Wagner also spoke, saying Davey’s death was felt with particular intensity within the largely residential community of Alameda. “This is an island community where our friendships are closer and our desire to share sorrow is more heartfelt,” he said.

Alameda officers confirmed later that Davey’s killing had numbed members of the 109-year police force. Former Police Chief Richard Young said an Alameda motorcycle officer died in a crash about 30 years ago, but that there was no record of any other officer being slain while on duty.

As Sergeant George Gardiner stood outside the church listening to the Mass, he said: “We’re just overwhelmed here. I don’t know how many times I’ve been to these funerals, seen them on television, but all of a sudden, when it’s a guy who worked right around the corner . . . ”

The man charged with Davey’s killing was Daniel A. Smith, 21, of Santa Cruz. Police said Smith was on parole from the California Youth Authority after serving seven months for a first-degree burglary.

Officer Stuart Taira died in a helicopter crash on Tuesday, March 1, 1983. He was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Air Support Division.